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Thursday, June 09, 2016

Hey, Readers, we have
another Karen Witemeyer book today. I know you’ve been enjoying her books as
much as I have. She lives in Texas, and so do I,
so her books are set in Texas, and they are
authentic to Texas
and the time period.

Welcome back, Karen.
I love your new author photo. The colors are so pretty, and so are you. Why did you
become an author?

I've always been enamored with story. I was a serious
bookworm as a kid, preferring to hide away in my room with my nose buried in a
book to nearly everything else. I never expected to be an author, though.
Authors were amazing, creative people who transport a person into another place
and time. I was just me. A math and band nerd whose only artistic expression
was following someone else’s patterns, whether in music or in my one artistic
hobby—cross-stitch. I was great at following directions, but creating from
scratch? Not a chance.

Apparently, God had different ideas. He’d laid the
foundation in my passion for reading, then sprinkled seeds along the way
through English teachers and college professors who complimented my writing
ability. Then finally, he took away my safety net when my husband lost his job
in 2003 and as a young mother with three babies at home, I knew I had to do
something to contribute to the family income. I ended up finding a day job, but
God used that shock to jumpstart a dream of writing inside me. The bug had
bitten, and I wasn't going to let it go. I started writing short pieces, then
longer one. I attended national conferences and learned all I could about the
industry. Then, six years later, in 2009, I signed my first 3 book contract
with Bethany House. Only God could have brought to fruition a dream I didn’t
even realize I possessed.

If you weren’t an
author, what would be your dream job?

Well, actually, I still work a day job in addition to
writing. I’m not sure it is my dream
job. I work for a university in the registrar’s office revising the catalog,
attending academic council meetings, and managing the course-related information
in our school data system. It’s a good job with great co-workers, and I’m very
thankful for the position. But dream job? That would probably entail a mountain
cabin with a path leading through a forest to a waterfall where people paid me
an unrealistic sum to host secluded book clubs/cross-stitch camps on the
weekends, leaving me the freedom to write during the week.

If you could have
lived at another time in history, what would it be and why?

I write historical stories, and I love romanticizing the 19th
century. Things were so much simpler back then. Families stayed closer
together. God was a more vibrant part of the community. But in reality, there
was no air conditioning, no washing machines, and no memory foam mattresses.
Body odor was the norm and lice infested more heads than not. Would I like to
jump in a time machine and visit the 1880's and 1890's that I write about?
Absolutely! Would I want to live there? No thank you.

What place in the United States
have you not visited that you would like to?

I’ve never been to Montana.
I’d love to visit a dude ranch up there and experience 19th century
life in 21st century comfort.

How about a foreign
country you hope to visit?

Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege to visit both The
Netherlands and Germany
on book tours. What a fabulous experience! Europe
has such rich history and architecture. The history nerd in me eats it up. One
place that I’ve never visited that I would love to try is New Zealand. I’m
a sucker for waterfalls and places with lush vegetation, and New Zealand
seems to fit the bill. Maybe someday I’ll get the chance to see them firsthand.

What lesson has the
Lord taught you recently?

He always seems to have something new to show me. Lately, I’ve
been thinking a lot on his command to be fruitful. We are instructed to abide
in the vine of Christ and to bear fruit. The fruit is designed to nourish
others and to point them to Jesus. It struck me the other day as we were
discussing this idea at ladies’ Bible class, that we are also encouraged to
scatter seed for the kingdom. We often think of scattering seed as teaching the
good news. But it occurred to me that by being fruitful and sharing that fruit
generously with those around us, we are also scattering seed. For fruit, by
definition, is a food that contains seeds. When people are touched by our love
and kindness and nourished by the fruit of our good deeds, the seeds hidden
inside are planted in them, perhaps without them even being aware. Others may
water those seeds, and when the time is right, God will give the increase and
bring about a harvest for his kingdom.

That is so true. I
hadn’t thought of it that way before. Tell us about the featured book.

Men are optional. That was the credo Emma Chandler’s
suffragette aunts taught her and why she started a successful women’s colony in
Harper’s Station, Texas. But when an unknown assailant tries repeatedly to
drive the women out, Emma is forced to admit they might need a man after all.
One who can fight. And there is only one she trusts enough to ask.

Malachi Shaw has finally earned the respect he’s always
craved by becoming an explosives expert for the railroad. Yet when Emma’s
telegram arrives, he leaves his job behind and rushes to Harper’s Station to
repay the girl who once saved his life. Only she’s not a girl any longer. She’s
a woman with a mind of her own and a smile that makes a man imagine a future he
doesn’t deserve.

As the danger intensifies, old feelings grow into something
more, but Emma and Mal will need more than love to survive.

Please give us the
first page of the book.

Prologue

Winter 1882 – Cooke County,
TX

Malachi Shaw made the arduous
climb back into consciousness with great effort. But then, everything Mal had
accomplished so far in his thirteen years of life had required great effort.
Not that he had achieved anything worth bragging about. Orphaned. Starving. And
. . . cold.

That’s what his senses picked up
first. The cold. And not just the
huddling-under-the-saloon-stairs-in-a-too-thin-coat-during-a-blue-norther kind
of cold. No. This was a cold so harsh it burned. Which made exactly zero sense.

With a groan, Mal lifted his
head and tried to draw his arms beneath him to push himself up. That’s when the
rest of the pain hit. His shoulder throbbed, his ribs ached, and his head felt
like it had collided with a train. Oh, that’s right. It had.

Memories swirled through his
mind as he slowly crawled out of the snowdrift that must have broken his fall.
He’d hopped the train, just as he’d done a half dozen times over the last month
since his drunk of a father finally got himself killed, run over by a wagon
while trying to cross the street. The old man hadn’t been good for much,
leaving Mal to scrounge for food in garbage bins while he spent whatever coins
he managed to earn at the card tables on whiskey. But at least he’d kept a roof
over their heads—a rundown, leaky roof supported by slanted, rickety walls that
couldn’t even hold the wind out—but a roof nonetheless. The morning after they
laid his father in the ground, the lady who owned the shack kicked Mal out on
his ear. Barely gave him time to gather his one pathetic sac of belongings. A
sac, Mal discovered as he frantically searched the area around him, that was
nowhere to be found.

“No!” He slammed his fist into
the frozen earth near his hip then slumped forward.

How can readers find
you on the Internet?

http://karenwitemeyer.com
- The best place to connect with me online is at my website. I offer monthly
drawings for free books, bonus material like deleted epilogues and
behind-the-scenes peeks into my books, as well as free excerpts for all of my
stories.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

I have "A Worthy Pursuit" (yet-to-be-read) on my shelf & I'm not sure I've read anything by Karen yet. But I have heard great things about her writing!! Thanks for the chance to win a copy of this book :-)

I keep getting emails back from your mailbox after I submit a comment stating my email couldn't be delivered. It baffles me. However, I keep hoping and praying my comment will make me a winner down the road anyway. Maybe today. :)

I have only read one of Karen's books - Head in the Clouds. In fact, I just finished it and I have to say that I loved it and her writing. I am looking forward to reading her others and this latest one which has me intrigued. Thanks for the interview and the giveaway!